Morning Briefing: Syndergaard ‘Can’t Imagine Leaving New York’

Good morning, Mets fans!

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard made his first rehab start since May on Thursday, pitching in a game for the Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones. Syndergaard threw one inning in his return and gave up a home run but it’s what he said off the field that made headlines.

Syndergaard told reporters on Thursday that doctors have instructed him to scrap his slider for the rest of the 2021 season, as they believe that pitch is doing more harm than good to his shoulder. He then decided to eliminate his curveball from his arsenal for the rest of the year as well. He will use strictly his fastball and changeup for the remainder of the season. This is in hope that his arm will remain healthy enough to pitch on a big league mound before the end of the 2021 season.

Syndergaard underwent the surgery in March 2020 and hasn’t thrown on a big-league mound since September 2019. The Mets have given no timetable for his return. If that wasn’t enough Syndergaard, who is a free agent at the end of the year, also made some comments regarding his desire to stay in New York in the future.

“I can’t imagine leaving New York or leaving the Mets,” he said. “I love the culture that New York has to offer…this team has been special to me ever since 2015, ever since that special run. That’ll be forever ingrained in me. I think it’s the best time of my life and I really want to get back to that moment.”

Meanwhile, on the field the Mets struggles continued. The Mets lost the final game of a three-game series on Thursday, in which they got swept by the San Francisco Giants. The Giants won the game 3-2, after they took the lead in the eighth inning on pinch hit single by Darin Ruf off Mets reliever Seth Lugo.

The Mets bats continued to falter, leaving 18 men on base and scoring just two runs. Those two runs came off the bat of Pete Alonso when he hit his 29th home run of the season in the sixth inning.

The loss drops the Mets record to 61-66 and they are now 7.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. Rich Hill (6-5 4.13) gets the ball for the Mets on Friday as they start a three-game series with the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Paolo Espino (3-4 4.28) takes the hill for the Nationals who come into the series with a record of 54-71.

Latest Mets News

Mets outfielder Jose Martinez came out of Thursday night’s rehab assignment in Triple-A Syracuse after feeling pain during a swing in the fourth inning. The incident occurred in a matchup between the Syracuse Mets and Rochester Redwings in Syracuse. According to video posted by Jacob Resnick of SNY, Martinez was grabbing his left shoulder and elbow area after the swing.

Martinez was in day 19 of his rehab assignment with the maximum being 20 days, after that he would have had to report to the Mets big-league club. Martinez has yet to make an appearance for the Mets after tearing the meniscus in his knee on March 5 in Spring Training.

Did the Mets get fleeced at the deadline? Former Major League General Manager Jim Bowden certainly thinks so. Bowden gave his recent rankings of minor league prospects and put former Met farm hand Pete Crow-Armstrong ahead of any Met prospect in their system. Bowden also compared the deadline deal that netted the Mets infielder Javier Baez and pitcher Trevor Williams from the Cubs, to the trade that former Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen made where the Mets traded top outfielder prospect Jarred Kelenic to the Seattle Mariners.

Bowden suggested to The Athletic that they made the same mistake twice. Crow-Armstrong underwent season ending shoulder surgery earlier in the year and it ended his year. According to Bowden, the Cubs are encouraged he is going to make a full recovery.

Latest MLB News

Major League Baseball announced its playoff schedule for the 2021 season. The league announced that the one-game wildcard match-up will start with the American League Wild Card game on Tuesday, October 5. The National League Wildcard game will take place the next day Wednesday, October 6.

The American League Division Series matchups will be conducted on Thursday, October 7, with the National League Division Series kicking off on Friday, October 8. The American League Championship Series is scheduled to start on October 15 and the National League Championship Series will follow the next day on October 16.

The league also announced that game one of the World Series is scheduled to start on October 26, which would schedule Game 7 of the World Series scheduled for November 3, the latest it would run since the 2009 season.

Former Tampa Bay Ray farmhand Tyler Zombro is recovering after being hit in the head by a batted ball while pitching for the Durham Bulls, the organization’s Triple-A affiliate on June 3. Zombro had to have reconstructive surgery on his head to relieve the pressure  on his brain and his recovering. ESPN‘s Jeff Passan spoke to him about the road he’s been on since June and why he eventually wants to return to a pitching mound as soon as he’s ready.

What players have the best tools in baseball? Baseball America released their best tools rankings on Thursday. Each year the organization asks Major League Managers to rank the best players in a variety of offensive, defensive and pitching categories. Recently, big league analysts and coaches have been asked to contribute as well.

Did any of your favorite major leagues make the list in 2021? Find out here.

Red Sox ace Chris Sale threw an immaculate inning in Boston’s 12-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. Sale threw 5.1 innings giving up two hits and two runs in his third start back from Tommy John surgery. The immaculate inning occurred in the third inning when he struck out Nick Gordon, Andrelton Simmons and Rob Refsnyder on nine straight pitches.

It’s the third immaculate inning of his career, tying him for the record. Sandy Koufax is the only other pitcher to be known to have three immaculate innings a career.

Latest NL East News

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins is out for the season after it was determined he will require season ending surgery to repair a tear in his abdominal area. Hoskins was batting .247 with 27 HRs and 71 RBIs in 107 games with the Phillies in 2021. The team announced the news prior to their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Philadelphia also announced that pitcher Zach Eflin was scratched from his schedule start on Thursday. Eflin was activated from the IL prior to the scheduled start but was scratched after knee tendonitis flared up in his bullpen session prior to the game. He spent five weeks on the IL with knee tendonitis, before being activated on Thursday.

The Phils came into the day 5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the lead in the National League East with a record of 63-63. Left-hander Matt Moore started in place of Eflin.

Latest on MMO

Alex Horowitz has all you need to know from Noah Syndergaard‘s rehab start in Brooklyn on Thursday.

On This Date in Mets History

The Mets set a club record for wins on this date in 1969. The Mets beat the San Diego Padres by a score of 4-1 to give the team their 74th victory of the season, setting a club record at the time. The Mets won 73 games in 1968, which was the previous record. The victory against the Padres was thanks in large part to a big day by left-hander Jerry Koosman, who threw a two-hit complete game. The win put the Mets 2.5 games back of the Cubs in what would become a magical 1969 season where the club would win their first ever World Series.

On this date in 1974, Benny Ayala hits a home run in his first Major League at-bat. Ayala was called up to the Mets from Triple-A Tidewater to replace the injured Cleon Jones in the lineup. Ayala took Astros’ pitcher Tom Griffin deep to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Ayala’s homer was part of a three run second inning for the Amazins, in route to a 4-2 win. Ayala was just the 40th player to ever hit a home run in his first at bat. Since then, three other Mets, Mike Fitzgerald, Kazuo Matsui and Mike Jacobs, have accomplished the feat.

The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 6-5 in 11 innings on this date in 1986. The game will be remembered for an epic double-play turned by the Mets to win the ball game. The Mets took a 5-0 lead by the third inning, thanks in large part to a two-run home run by Darryl Strawberry. The Padres came roaring back in the eighth, scoring four runs and tying the game against Met relievers Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco. The Mets would regain the lead as Keith Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly that scored Lenny Dykstra in the top of the 11th inning.

The Friars would battle back, as Garry Templeton ripped a double off of Doug Sisk. Sisk would strikeout Craig Lefferts but then gave up a single to Tim Flannery. The single was up the middle and Templeton tried to score but was gunned down at the plate on a nice throw by Lenny Dykstra and an amazing tumbling tag by Mets catcher John Gibbons. Flannery would try and advance to third after seeing Gibbons tumble, but Gibbons got up and threw a dart to third baseman Howard Johnson to nail Flannery at third. The double-play ended the game and improved the Mets record to 85-42.

Birthdays: Mike Maddux (60), Brian McRae (54), Nick Tropeano (31)

Let’s go Mets!